Longjiang Automobile is an automobile brand from the Heilongjiang region with a glorious history. It initially started as the predecessor of the Heilongjiang Bus Factory, the Songjiang Provincial Transportation Company's Automobile Repair and Parts Factory, established in 1951, primarily responsible for vehicle repair and the processing and manufacturing of automotive spare parts. In 1964, the factory began to trial-produce road buses and built a brand-new production line in 1968 to expand its capacity.
In 1979, Heilongjiang Bus Factory used the 680 chassis from Heilongjiang Automobile Factory to manufacture the LJ680 model, beginning to enter the long-distance passenger transport market. The LJ680 model was widely popular for its radio, luxurious seats, and side-mounted luggage compartments, becoming a hot model in the market at that time. Starting from 1981, the JT680 heavy-duty diesel bus produced by Heilongjiang Bus Factory repeatedly won the titles of high-quality products from the Ministry of Communications and Heilongjiang Province, and for six consecutive years, it won first place in the quality inspection and evaluation of road buses by the Ministry of Communications, a record that has not been surpassed to this day.
However, as time went on, Longjiang Automobile began to face challenges. Due to the loss of technical personnel, system restrictions, and intensifying market competition, Longjiang Automobile gradually lost its former glory. After 1986, the enterprise experienced mergers and reorganizations, but product quality and management issues began to emerge. In 2007, Longjiang Bus was sold to Baijia Economic and Trade, and later transferred to the Daqing Fuding Group, but apart from the brand, the production scale has been greatly reduced.
The story of Longjiang Automobile reflects the changes of an era and the development course of the automotive industry. Although it ultimately failed to continue its early success, it still holds a place in the history of China's automotive industry.